United States vs. the Mormons

“... you do solemnly swear in the presence of Almighty God... that you will avenge the blood of Joseph Smith upon this nation, and so teach your children; that you will, from this day henceforth and forever, begin and carry out hostilities against this nation, and keep the same a profound secret now and forever. So help you God.”

- Apostle William Smith, Arguments Before the Committee On Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate In the Matter of the Protests Against the Right of Hon. Reed Smoot, A Senator from the State of Utah, to Hold His Seat, 1905, p. 231

“We will go to a land where there are at last no old settlers to quarrel with us…. We will leave this wicked nation, to themselves, for they have rejected the gospel, and I hope and pray that the wicked will kill one another & save us the trouble of doing it.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, quoted in “Journal of Heber C. Kimball,” under January 2, 1846; see Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, p. 216

“Who goes to the White House these days?... A gambler and a drunkard. And the Vice-President is the same. And no man can get either office unless he is a gambler and a drunkard, or a thief. And who goes to Congress? You may hunt clear through the Senate and House, and if you can find any men that are not liars, thieves, whoremongers, gamblers, and drunkards, I tell you they are mighty few, for no other kind of men can get in there.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, quoted in Hirshon, The Lion of the Lord: A Biography of the Mormon Leader, Brigham Young, 1969, pp. 278-279

“[U.S. President] Zachary Taylor is dead, and in hell. And I am glad of it.”

“Joseph Smith escaped many conspiracies against his life…. But the Lord said – ‘Now let my servant seal up his testimony with his blood;' and that sealed up the damnation of the United States, not of individuals, but of the nation…. I am prophet enough to prophesy the downfall of the government that has driven us out…. Wo to the United States! I see them going to death and destruction.”

“The people of the rest of the country are our enemies…. When the government conflicts with heaven, we will be ranged under the banner of heaven and against the Government…. I defy the United States. I will obey God.”

“The American Nation will be broken in pieces.... you live in the day and hour of the judgments of God Almighty.... the hour of God's judgment is at the door.... I wish to warn all nations.... Thrones will be cast down, nations will be overturned, anarchy will reign, all legal barriers will be broken down, and the laws will be trampled in the dust. You are about to be visited with war, sword, famine, pestilence, plague, earthquakes, whirlwinds, tempests, and with the flame of devouring fire.... the slain of the Lord will be many.”

“Brigham raised his hand and said, ‘I swear by the eternal Heavens that I have unsheathed my sword, and I will never return it until the blood of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum, and those who were slain in Missouri, is avenged. This whole nation is guilty of shedding their blood, by assenting to the deed, and holding its peace.'…Furthermore, every one who had passed through their endowments, in the Temple, were placed under the most sacred obligations to avenge the blood of the Prophet, whenever an opportunity offered, and to teach their children to do the same, thus making the entire Mormon people sworn and avowed enemies of the American nation.”

“These people [the Mormons] repudiate the authority of the United States in this country, and are in open rebellion against the general government…. So strong have been my apprehensions of danger to the surveyors that I scarcely deemed it prudent to send any out…. We are by no means sure that we will be permitted to leave, for it is boldly asserted we would not get away alive.”

- David H. Burr, Surveyor-General for Utah, August 30, 1856, letter to Thomas A. Hendricks, General Land Office, March 28, 1857; see Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, p. 229

“Mormon leaders consistently expressed their feelings that the war had been brought on by the wickedness of the United States, which had rejected Mormonism and permitted the death of the prophet of God and his servants…. Although the waste of lives was lamentable, a war between states would avenge the death of Joseph Smith. The Saints seemed especially gratified that Jackson County was a war zone and that Missouri would suffer the penalty of its cruelties to the Mormons. Besides avenging the blood of the innocent, the Lord would also prepare the way before his coming, which Mormons believed would occur in Jackson County, Missouri…. William Clayton wrote that such a spirit seemed to operate on Brigham Young's mind: ‘All Latter-day Saints will not stay here [in Utah] forever. He [Young] talks much and frequently about Jackson County, Missouri.”

“So as to make you realize the enormity of Mormonism suffice it that I found them a community of traitors, murderers, fanatics, and whores. The people publicly rejoice at the reverse to our arms and thank God that the American government is gone as they term it, while their prophet and bishops preach treason from the pulpit. Federal officers are entirely powerless and talk in whispers for fear of being overheard by Brigham's spies. Brigham Young rules with despotic sway and death by assassination is the penalty of disobedience to his command.”